Wild Strawberries
by megaera211
Summary: One shot. It's White Day and Mori has a present to give to Haruhi.


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Mori had been nervous all day. Although the third years and the first years hardly ever saw each other, he saw Haruhi everywhere today. This morning in the courtyard, in the library, in the hallways, in the cafeteria. Every time his eyes were drawn to her. Mori was immensely charmed by Haruhi. Her bright clear eyes, her quick wit, but most of all her smiles. She had nearly a hundred different smiles. The best ones were the unexpected smiles that shone from her heart.

Mori blushed when he remembered that incident last fall when he told her that she was cute; he only pretended not to have any memory of the event so as to save Haruhi from any embarrassment that might have resulted from the twin's teasing.

Tonight the club was hosting a White Ball in honor of their clientele for White Day. Mori was glad for the event because it meant that the other members would be too preoccupied with their entertaining duties to overwhelm Haruhi with their attention this evening. Although at lunch Tamaki and the others had transformed the cafeteria into a five star restaurant, treating Haruhi to a grand lunch consisting of French cuisine. Mori felt a little intimidated seeing their extravagant gesture, as his White Day gift was much simpler. None the less, he looked forward to escorting her home this evening.

After the last guest left Haruhi walked over to Mori and said, "Thank you for giving me a ride home. I hope it's not an inconvenience."

"Not at all." he said genially. A look of relief washed over her face.

"I need to change my clothes, but I'll be right back."

Mori replied, "I will wait for you here." Haruhi nodded and left to change.

"Takashi!" said Hunny as he walked up to his cousin, "I hope you'll have a good night! See you tomorrow!" Winking, the short blond skipped out of the music room. A faint blush appeared on Mori's cheeks at his cousin's words.

"Mori," said Kyoya strolling over putting on his overcoat, "I believe you'll be the last one to leave? Be sure to leave the room unlocked as the caterer will return for the rest of the tables and chairs. Tamaki hurry up! I have an early morning meeting to oversee tomorrow!"

Suoh walked over a little dejected but when he saw Mori he grasped his shoulder. "Be sure she gets home safely ok?"

"I will." He replied gravely.

Appeased, Tamaki grinned and said good night as he walked after Kyoya.

"Why won't you let us take you home?" whined Hikaru and Kaoru as they followed behind Haruhi. Mori blushed at the sight of her. She was adorable; wearing a dusky pink wrap around sweater, an apricot camisole with a delicate lace trim, a black muslin skirt that waved right above her knees, and black ballet flats.

"Because you need to go the airport and if you took me home, you wouldn't make your flight to London on time." Said Haruhi with a bit of exasperation.

"Fine then!" said the twins in unison as they abruptly turned to leave.

"Wait!" said Haruhi. Stopping they turned back. "Thank you for lending me another suit. I hope you have a safe trip. I'll see you on Monday."

"See you soon!" they said cheerfully as they left.

"I'm sorry I took so long." Said Haruhi as she turned to Mori.

"Not at all." He replied. Seeing that she held her coat over her arm he gestured towards it and asked, "May I?"

A little taken back she shyly replied, "Yes, thank you."

Handing him her coat he helped her to put it on, allowing his hands to momentarily rest upon her small shoulders, his fingers barely grazing the nape of her neck.

"Shall we?" Mori asked offering her his arm.

Smiling Haruhi took his arm and said, "Yes, let's."

Mori lead Haruhi out of the school to where his chauffeured car was waiting. The driver, anticipating the couple, immediately opened the door allowing them to seat themselves. Once they were safely seated and buckled in, the driver smoothly guided the car onto the street.

He watched her as she looked outside the window. She seemed entranced as she watched the scenery flow by. Turning to look at him, she caught him staring at her.

"Oh. I'm sorry." she said scooting back into her seat. Mori tilted his head and gave her a confused look. "I didn't mean to block the view."

Leaning forward to look out the window he saw the beautiful lights of the city twinkle and glow before them. As she turned to look at the view again, he felt fortunate to be able to share this moment with her.

"Haruhi, you look very pretty this evening." Mori said.

Turning to examine his face she asked a little hesitantly, "You're not sleepy are you?"

Chuckling he replied, "No. I meant what I said."

"Oh," she said looking bashfully at her lap as she tucked a wayward strand of hair behind her ear, "thank you. The outfit was a White Day gift from my father."

"It's very becoming on you." he said.

"Sir, we've arrived." announced the driver as he stopped the car in front of her apartment.

"Thank you." replied Mori. He got out of the car and went to open Haruhi's door. As she stepped out, she took the hand he offered. "May I see you to your door?" he asked still holding her hand.

Merely, nodding Haruhi turned her head away, releasing his hand, and began walking up the stairs to her apartment; although not before Mori saw the blush on her cheeks. Smiling to himself, he followed her to her door.

When she reached her door she turned towards him. "Thank you for taking me home."

"You're welcome." he said.

"Well, goodnight-" Haruhi began as she proceeded to unlock the door.

"Wait." Mori interrupted, his heart beating very fast, "I have something for you." Reaching into his pocket he pulled out a small gift wrapped box and offered it to her.

With a surprised look on her face, Haruhi took the gift and began to open it. In her hands she held a small paper carton of strawberries.

"My family owns a strawberry farm in Chiba and I wanted to give these to you for White Day." said Mori.

With her head down, Haruhi clutched the box to her chest. Worried he touched her gently on the shoulder. When she looked into his concerned face he saw that tears were beginning to bead in the corner of her eyes. "Haruhi?" he asked.

"I'm sorry. It's just that my mom used to give me strawberries every White Day." she explained.

Wordlessly Mori took her gently into his arms, hugging her. When she looked up, he saw the most beatific smile he had ever seen.

"Thank you." she said. Reaching up, she grasped his collar and pulled him towards her. Leaning down, Haruhi kissed him gently in the corner of his mouth. Exhilarated, Mori pulled her closer to his body as she deepened the kiss.

"Thank you so much, for everything." Haruhi said huskily when they finally ended the kiss. Letting her go, Mori watched as she opened the door. "Goodnight." she said smiling.

"Goodnight." he replied. As she went inside, Mori walked back to the car with a pleased look on his face. Maybe he would invite her to take a tour of the farm next weekend. On the way home, he reminded himself that he would need to thank Mitsukuni for his suggestion.

Author's Note: I really like this manga for all the the comedic elements - unfortunately I hardly wrote any. I think it was one of the first manga I ever owned. I do enjoy all of the characters but I like Mori the best.


End file.
